Gordon Aubrecht

Physics 133

Spring 2004

Journal Topics

Weeks are counted starting with week 1 due by midnight numbering sequentially.

Week 1:

Journal 1

• Tell me a little about why you chose to come to Physics 133 and what you think will happen in the course.
  • What I hope to do with this new knowledge about wavefunctions, nuclear physics, particles, and stars.
  • What I expect the lectures to do for me.
  • What I expect the book to do for me.
  • What I expect the quizzes to do for me.
• You've now been using the journal two quarters. How could this journal be of more help to you? What can you get from this that you couldn't from personal interaction? What would you like it to do?
• How many hours you think it will take to learn all you need to know from this course? Include everything: lectures, homework, etc. fill in ______ h/wk
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 1 April 2004

Week 2:

Journal 2

• How can a particle be a wave and vice versa? Explain this in your own words as well as you can.
  

• Are the book problems easy, normal, or hard for this type of book? Explain what you mean.

• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 8 April 2004

Week 3:

Journal 3

• What is the difference between the classical concept of angular momentum and angular momentum in quantum mechanics?
• What has been easiest and hardest about the course so far?
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 15 April 2004

Week 4:

Journal 4

• What have you learned, if anything, from the tests and quizzes so far?
• What are the three most important concepts, ideas... (whatever) you found in the first part of the course (that is, so far)? Explain why you considered these the most important.
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 22 April 2004

Week 5:

Journal 5

• The ionization energies of the elements on both Columns 1A and 2A of the periodic table tend to decrease with increasing atomic number. Explain this fact as well as you can.
• Which example(s) was (were) most helpful? Why? Which example(s) was (were) least helpful? Why?
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 29 April 2004

Week 6:

Journal 6

• What is the one problem you^#146;d most like to see on a midterm, quiz, or final? Why that particular problem? Include your solution to that problem.
• Describe the concept of probability in quantum mechanics as best you can. What does it mean to say that the state has a probability of 1? What is the probability of a wave on a rectangular drumhead to be in one-fourth of the area? Can you give an example of a one-dimensional system that does not always have the same probability? (Give details.)
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 6 May 2004

Week 7:

Journal 7

• In your opinion is the current division of the chapters in the text well thought out, or do some things belong in different chapters than they now are? Why?
• Examine the fusion and nuclear science charts. What useful information did you learn from
  • energy conversion fundamentals
  • the curve of the binding energy
  • how fusion reactors work
  • important fusion reactions
  • creating the conditions for fusion
  • plasmas--the fourth state of matter
  • progress toward controlled fusion energy
  • the expansion of the universe
  • density vs. temperature
  • element 112
  • natural radioactivity
  • the chart of the nuclides (somewhat obscured behind the nucleus)
  • the nucleus
  • applications.
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 13 May 2004

Week 8:

Journal 8

• Which topic is most in need of review?
• What does quantum mechanics tell us about the structure of matter that classical mechanics cannot?
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 20 May 2004

Week 9:

Journal 9

• What have you learned, if anything, from the tests and quizzes? Has this changed since week 4? If I have not reviewed your topic and you are desperate, let me know what I need to do.
• What is the significance of virtual particle gauge bosons in physics? Does it matter that they violate the uncertainty principle? How? Is this important? Why is it important that they be bosons?
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 27 May 2004

Week 10:

Journal 10

• If you could make changes in the text, what changes would you make? Explain those changes and the reasons for them.
• What aspects of the history of the universe and/or the galaxy are most fascinating to you? Why?
• If I were a professor, what problems on this week’s topics would I assign to determine if my students understood the material? Give specific example(s) as appropriate.
• What did you learn in Physics 133 this week? How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific)

due 4 June 2004

take me to Gordon's home page

take me to the lecture notes

take me to the syllabus

take me to the quiz page

You can email me from Netscape or Explorer by clicking on aubrecht@mps.ohio-state.edu.